Bureau

A group of Republican House lawmakers from Western states said they plan to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) this week to roll back one — and possibly more — rules enacted during the Obama administration, and that a total of 13 regulations should be targeted.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said a proposed rule that would, among other things, increase public involvement in the way it formulates Resource Management Plans (RMP), would not directly affect the decisions it makes but conceded that it could impact the oil and gas industry.

Walter Oil & Gashas completed the first phase of plugging a natural gas well in the Gulf of Mexico that blew out in July, according to theInterior Department’sBureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement(BSEE). The well blowout partially destroyed a Hercules Inc. rig, but as responders were working on ways to prevent releases, the well naturally clogged with sand (seeDaily GPI,July 30). All of the debris from the original well had been removed as of Friday (Sept. 6), and no gas has been detected, BSEE said. Regulators said the original well would be reentered at a later date to set deeper, permanent plugs.

Maine’sBureau of General Services (BGS) has selectedMaine Natural Gas(MNG) to deliver natural gas to 19 of its 25 facilities in the state’s capital for the next decade, the company said. The facilities consume more than 87% of the gas used by the state in Augusta. The award decision is subject to final approval by theState Procurement Review Committee. MNG said it expects to begin contract discussions with BGS “immediately” since the state plans to begin receiving gas at some Augusta facilities by Nov. 1. MNG in March signed a contract with three companies to begin building the 12-inch diameter steel pipeline backbone of its Augusta gas distribution system (seeDaily GPI,March 11). The 21.4-mile Augusta backbone pipeline is 99% completed and is expected to be ready to start gas delivery to its first Augusta customers by the end of this month, MNG said. MNG andSummit Natural Gas of Mainehave been racing to bring natural gas to the area for some time. Summit on Tuesday said it has signed agreements withInland HospitalandRedington-Fairview Hospitalto supply those central Maine facilities with natural gas line and utility service.

A coalition of seven conservation groups has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) allocation of more than 800,000 acres of federal lands in three western states to potential oil shale and tar sands development.

Federal and state officials concede there was a “miscommunication” between them over plans by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to put more than 4,000 acres of a state forest in Ohio up for oil and gas leasing, and the sale has been put on hold.

Continuing to fetch higher per-acre prices, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took in $49.8 million last Wednesday, selling 87 leases totaling 19,015 acres in North and South Dakota, the BLM Billings, MT, office said. South Dakota had the most activity.

A coalition of conservation groups on Thursday filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over its amending of 10 resource management plans (RMP) earlier this year to open more than 800,000 acres for future oil shale and tar sands leasing.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is initiating an environmental analysis evaluating the impacts of seismic and other geological and geophysical activities involved in oil and gas development and the potential siting of wind turbines in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf and adjacent state waters.